Burial-vault.



l E. D. MILLHOUSE.

'BURIAL VAULT.` APPLICATION FILED OCT. I, I9II.

.,l74,5l; I Patented Miu'. 7,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- Edward JIfiZZ/wz/,Se

E] Hoznu Patented Mar. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

inve/WISO@ E. n. MILLHOUSE.

BURIAL VAULT.

APPLICATION FILED 0CT.4,19II.

l 'Lin/ard BML' house @3M/ l To all 'whom t may concern.'

'Manara' y 1 in. MULHOUSE, or PERU, rumena, Assrenn To THE annemarie sri-nuns l YAULT COMPANY, OE PERU, INDIANA, Av CORPORATION OF'INDIANA.

Beit known that I, EDWARD D. MILL- HOUSE, a citizen of thef- United States, residing at Peru, in thecounty of Miami and Stateof Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in BurialfVaults, of

- which the following is a specification.

The present inventionrelates to a burial vault or sarcophagus adapted to receive a casket or con and is in the nature of an improvement upon my Patent No. 921,554,

dated May 11, 1909. h said patent, I show a Iburial vault comprising a box-like structurel having vertical side walls of uniform .thickness throughout. Ywith a downwardly and inwardly inclined ledge orA rib on the outer face of the box forming Aa trough4 which extends around said box. Furtherjmore, in'said4 patent, I show a cover having aange, the lower edge of which is inclined upwardly and inwardly in such manner thatwhen the cover is placed inposition a space is formed between the free end 'l of the flange andthe upper faceo'fthe lledge extending entirely around vthe vvault and substantially triangular in cross section,so

that when'the cover is placed lin position on the box, the weight of the formeris borne.

by theltop edge of theV walls of the vault while no weight is su ported by the ledge, thecover being seal tothe body of the vault by placing plastic material upon the ledge. In such former patent, lI also illustrate a reinforcing frame 'for the box and.

for the cover the'framesbeing.constructed Y of strips bolted or riveted together. Y In" the present instance, I form the box or body' of the vault with a continuous ledge on its outer face Awhich issubstantially `at right angles to the walls -off the vault, thereby forming av square shoulder."` Furthermore,

'theportions' of the wallsbelow the ledge are double the thickness of those portionsabove said ledge, so that the cover when placed-in l-position .rests with the) lower edges of theiianges thereof flush and in con.

tact with the4 ledge extending around the,

box portion so that to all intents and pur poses, the. vault is. formed with vertical walls .of double thickness, the outer faces of the flanges of the cover and the lower gortion of the vertical walls of .the box eing flush. Inthe present instance', lI funi ther dispense with the use of-'rivets, bolts and' similar -fasteningsA in constructing the l Specification of Letters Patent.

v1-is aV 'sectional view. Fig. 4

plastic material molded into the desired form.

In the present instance, it is my to provide a vault into which the vwalls purpose 4 Patented Mar.. 7, 19ML Application sled october 4,1911. -serialnaesaeea I l l of the box, portion are extended up into the l cover so that when the vault is assembled a body vof air is sealed therein and thus water ormoisture is prevented entering the vault, although the lower portion of the vault wherein the casket is disposed may restbelowthe water line..

Another object of my invention is to pro' vide a novel form ofreinforcing embedded metal frame another is .to construct the vault and coverv in such manner that when A the cover is placed in position on the body of the vault, the cover will rest uponand be supported bythe top edge of thebox and by the ledge.

A further object of -thev invention isto .i

lprovide a watertight vault wherein the ,use of cement or lother sealing means for connecting the cover to the'box is dispensedl .with. f

With the above-recited objects, and oth'- ers ofasimilar vnature in view, the'inven tion consists' in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, setfo hin and falling ed claim.

within thev scope of the append.

' In'. the accompanying'drawings:-Figure l erspective v1ew of mygimproved vault w1 h-tle-cover elevated. Fig. 2 is a transverse vvertical sectional view 'taken through" the same. Fig isa longitudinal s a similar view of the reinforcing body'.

In [the construction of my improved vault, both the-cover and the body portion' or'. box are formed of plastic material,- such as cement or'the like 1n which i's'embedded a lreinforcing frame ofmetal Ior other suitable substance 1 q v Referring now .to drawings in detail, the numeral A .indicates as an entirety the body portionfor box secv tion ofthe vault, whlch is adaptedto re ceive the coliin therein. This body. portion COmPISeS a base 1, the end walls2f-2 and the side walls Y The cover B comprises the curved 'tcpf vwall 4, the end walls 5 5,- and the si e walls Ihe reinforcing frameofl the A v 10o A 'the ,accompanying ,A

"box proper is formed of a bottom strip bent into rectangular form, and a top strip 8 bent into -similarform, the top and bottom strips being connected by a plurality pf transversely extending U-shaped strips 10,

the upper endsof which are turned' over the top strip as at 11, and said framen is further provided with a centrally disposed longitudinally extending til-shaped strip 12, the endsk 13 of which are bent over the,

tioned strip, said frame being further com# posed vof the longitudinally extending U-'shaped strips 17 having their end portions 8- V4,bent f around, the )bottom rectangular strips ld, while 19 designates transversely extending, approximately U-shaped strips connected at their ends as at 21 tothe lower rectangular strip 14, the ,body portions of these transverse strips passing alternately over and underthe longitudinally extending strips and being plaited or interlaced therewith, thereby. dispensing with the use of y rivets or the like. The strips composing the cover frame. are also held in their proper position for the plastic material molded therearound.

' At 22 l have shown anumber of rings, f

adapted to receive thelstraps by means of which the cover is lowered into the grave, the Shanks 23 ofthe rings being anchored as at 24 beneath the strips of the reinforcing frame to prevent the rings being pulled out from the cover when 'the latter is being lowered by the straps.

In molding the plastic material to form the box portion ofthe vault, the frame is' placed in position in the mold and the plastic material poured in to form its wall 1,

` the end walls 2 and the side walls 3, the

upperportion of the end and side walls being reduced in thickness-as atv 25 so that vwhile the inner face of the side and end walls are straight thev entire depth of the box, the outer wall is formediwith a cut away portion 26 formingaledge 27 which ledge extends continuously around the side and end walls at approximately the middle of the box. In the formation of the cover B, the top is' made slightly curved or convex as shown in the drawings, while the side and end walls or anges are reduced in width, so that a shoulder 28 is, formed at the point of junction of the inner face of the side and end walls or Iianges with the top of the cover, said `side and end walls or flanges of the covering being of such thickness that when the cover is placed upon the box portion of the vault as is shown in the drawings, the combined thiclmess of the flange of the cover and the top sections on the side and end walls of the box will equal the thickness of the lower sections of the side and end Walls of the box so that side and end walls of double thickness are formed, the outer faces of the dange of the cover lying ush with the outer faces of the side and end walls of the box. By such an arrangement, it will be seen that when the cover is positioned .upon` the box section,'the edges of the anges or side and end walls of the cover rest upon the continuous ledge extending around the box portion, while a portion of the weight of the cover is also borne by the top wall of the box portion.

From the above description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be noted that li provide a vault, molded from plastic material, reinforced by a suitable frame, the cover tting upon the box section in such manner that when the vault is in position in the grave, should the water rise in such grave, until it reaches the lower edge of the dange of the cover, the air thereimis sealed so that the water can not rise beneath the cover. llt will further be noted that in the construction of the vault, ll dispense with the supplemetal layer of cement which fastens the cover to the vault. K

to provide aditional bearing surfaces for the box and cover and also form the reinforcing frame without employing rivets or other fastening means.

l claim I A burial vault ,comprising a receptacle formed of *a reinforcing frame-constructed of a pair of metal strips bent into rectangular form and spaced apart to form the upper and lower elements of the frame structure, an elongated lJ-shaped strip disposed lengthwise of the receptacle and surrounding said upperand lower rectangular frames, said strip having its .endlportions infolding the end bars of the'upper frame, .a plurality of U-shaped strips disposed transversely of the receptacle and surrounding said upper and lower frames and the elongated U-shaped strip, and the upper ends of said transverse U-strips infolding the side bars of the upper frame and holding the elements ofthe frame structure rigid, a body portion formed of plastic material molded about said frame structure, and formed with a circumferential shoulder on the side and end walls thereof, and a top for said' receptacle formed of a reinforcing frame consisting of a rec- -tangular member, a plurality of elongated U-vshaped members disposed lengthwise of 13@ the top and having their end portions inabout said frame structure and formed with folding the end bars of said rectangular a circumferential shoulder adapted to rest member, a plurality of U-shaped strips disupon the lshoulder of the receptacle, subposed transversely of the top and having stantially asset forth.-

5 their end portions infolding said rectangu- In testimony'whereof I aiix my signature 15 lar V member, a rectangular strip disposed in presence of two witnesses. lengthwise of the top and overlapping and EDWARD D. MLLHOUSE. underlapping said U-shaped strips and hold- Witnesses: `ing the frame structure rigid, and a body W. W. SULLIVAN,

10 portion formed of plastic material molded A. E. CATHCART. 

